About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

The GlenAllechie 18 (46%)

It took me some time to get around to publishing the rest of the series of the official bottlings of the distillery. You’ll recall that I very much liked the GlenAllachie 12. I’m continuing the series with the GlenAllechie 18 year old, to be followed by the 25 year old and the 10 year old cask strength. Yes, I know that convention dictates running up the ladder by age, but in this case, I prefer working by ABV.

Like everybody else, my exposure to GlenAllachie was very limited before Billy Walker took over. Yes, we’ve tasted some indies, but we can now start talking about a distillery character, upon which I’ll elaborate later in this series.

Photo Credit: scotchwhisky.com

This expressions was, surprisingly, the least appealing of the quartet of whiskies released in the 2018 core range release. It’s comprised of whisky matured in ex bourbon, Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks. When I say I don’t like it, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just somewhat uninspired. Personally I’d go for a bottle of the 12 or 10 year old before this expression.

Photo Credit: thewhiskybarrel.com

The GlenAllechie 18 (46%)

Appearance: Amber, slow and thin legs.

Nose: Malt and red apples, wood spices with cinnamon and allspice and a hint of nutmeg. Honey, baking cookies at the neighbor’s, and a hint of something metalic.

Palate: Sweet with peppery with a little nuttiness. There’s some orange rind bitterness there too.

Linger: A tad peppery with a sweetness. There’s dryness in the mouth, but especially on the palate, with a certain spot that has this dryness. The gullet remains spicy for quite some time, as the linger in the mouth turns to raw black pepper before leaving a dryness.

Conclusion

The 18 year old is actually less interesting than the 12, which I thought to be a lovely entry level expression.